


Apologia, or a Guide to Universal Propagation

by Kitsprite



Category: Homestuck
Genre: I didnt make up any new aspects or classes, SBURB Guide, as canon compliant as I could make it, as in
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-05-18
Updated: 2018-03-02
Packaged: 2018-11-02 03:06:38
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 20
Words: 14,241
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10935696
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kitsprite/pseuds/Kitsprite
Summary: Herein lies the most complete and accurate guide to the game known variously as Sburb, Sgrub, Sgurb or some other variant, that I could create.AN: I got annoyed that the only detailed Sburb Guides were ones that used fan classes and aspects, so I made one for myself.





	1. Indroduction

Guide to Universal Propagation

Introduction:

Hello, if you are reading this, then your world is doomed. My condolences. If you don't see meteors raining from the sky, relax, and read carefully. If you do, don't panic, but skip straight to chapter two, because you really don't have much time.  
Alright, first of all, introductions, I am inelegantThaumaturge, a Mage of Time (you'll find out what that means further in), also known as Kit Llewellyn. I am a successful player of a beta session (again, you'll find out). I shall confess that this guide is more than a simple act of altruism, but also an attempt at repentance. As we go on, I shall recount the tale of my session in order to illustrate various points, and to show both what a typical beta session should look like, and also, as it were, as my apologia, my defence.  
I am indebted to the inimitable, if somewhat purple-prosed, tentacleTherapist for her guide, broadcast throughout the void. It has some flaws, but it saved both me and many others in the early stages. If she is reading this, I offer her my thanks, and would like to enquire how her clearly atypical session turned out. This guide, I hope, shall serve as a completion of her work, and I can only hope to save as many as she has.


	2. Chapter One: What is S***b?

The game usually adopts a five letter name beginning with 's' and ending with 'b', and uses a logo shaped like an abstracted residence divided into an equal number of boxes, with a smaller box cut out of the one directly to the top right of the centre. It is usually published by a group or corporation using a spirograph as a logo, and advertises itself as an adventure game involving architecture, usually to young adolescents. It always has two programmes, a client and a server. As soon as it advertises, apply to be part of its beta, or if that isn't possible, find some other way to acquire it as soon as possible. This is your only chance at survival. Preventing its release isn't an option, as that just dooms your timeline due to broken time loops. The same group or corporation usually produces a sylladex system beforehand. Sometimes it doesn't, if so, take the time to read Chapter 3, so you know what the hells I'm on about when I talk about using your sylladex, because you'll gain one upon entry.  
The purpose of the game is twofold. First and foremost, it is the Universe's reproductive system. Secondly, it is a machine to make gods. If there are no gods interfering in your world, no universally agreed upon pantheon, then either your progenitor session's players died or were otherwise prevented from claiming their reward, or chose not to claim it. This means your world cannot survive. If your gods are about, then they should be able to give you some leeway on entrance. Try to get their attention and negotiate either for the protection of your world from the Reckoning, or at least aid in distributing the game as widely as possible.  
Once in the game, assuming yours is a Fertile Session, your goals are threefold. Firstly, to survive and grow as a person through your Maturity Quest. Secondly, to defeat the Black King and the forces of Derse. And finally, to breed and properly situate the Genesis Frog. Each goal is accomplished, in part, by the accomplishment of those prior. If you choose to not to go god tier, you will be forced to engage in a highly complex roleplay scenario in order to defeat the King. Personally, I recommend going god tier, but I'm a raging misanthrope with poor social skills.


	3. Chapter two: Entering

First off, I am going to give you a quick list of actions to perform, just in case you're on a tight schedule.  
First, connect your first client and server. The server should find a large room in the client's home, and clear it in order to place the cruxtruder, totem lathe, punchcard designex, prepunched card, and alchemiter. It may not be possible to fit them all in one room, as they are quite large, but the server should endevour to place them as close together as possible in order to make alchemising easier. Additionally, the server should be mindful of doorways and walkways when placing these items. Once these items are placed, a heavy object must be used to open the lid of the cruxtruder and release the kernalsprite. Some guides would advise you to leave off on placing and opening the cruxtruder as long as possible, but I shall counter this orthodoxy and say you should not, for the cruxtruder does not trigger the aiming of a meteor at the player's location, the client programme does. Make sure the client extrudes one cruxite dowel, which should look like a translucent coloured cylinder. Place it in the totem lathe along with the pre-punched card, and once the totem is carved, place that in the alchemiter to produce the entry object. Whatever is produced, the client should do what feels natural with it. But before they do, the server should prototype the kernalsprite.  
It is vitally important that you prototype the kernalsprite at least once before entry, else your session will be barren. This is accomplished by making contact between the sprite and any object or living thing. I advise prototyping with something at least semi-sentient, the remains of a beloved deceased relative or friend are ideal. Pets or their remains are also good. A random animal after that, and then depictions or fascimilies of animals. Don't prototype some random person or the image of a stranger, too high a risk that they'll be an arsehole. Additionally, one should be aware that prototyping effects the form and abilities of the game's enemies, and that the first two prototypings are automatic when the sprite touches something, beyond that, the sprite must want to be prototyped. Time players should be advised that they might end up prototyping an alternate self, and in fact I recommend doing so. I will cover that later. Ideally, somebody should prototype a frog or toad, as this will cause the Black Queen to reject her powers, but it is not disastrous if nobody does.  
If you have family or friends in your residence, keep a close eye on them and get them to hole up in a suitably barricaded room. Ideally, your session will have a time player who can jump them right to the end of your session, so they can safely go with you into your new universe. Otherwise, the game is highly likely to kill them, to try and force you to grow as a person. If practical, barricade your whole house to keep imps and other underlings out, so you can face them in your own time. One of the best ways to do this is to have your server player remove windows and doors. This will, however, require you to kill underlings for grist.  
If at all possible, ensure you have plenty of food in your house, with plenty of variety. Your only source of food after you enter will be what you can create through the game's alchemy system, which requires you to know a code for an object. The code can be found on the back of the object's sylladex card. See Chapter 3 for more about alchemising. Make sure to note down as many codes for food items as possible, as you are likely to be in the game for weeks, and even after victory you will still need to acquire food somehow.  
There is a hard limit of twelve players for a fertile session, and a hard minimum of four (see Chapter 5 for details). Additionally, there must be an even number of players. An odd number of players, or more than twelve, or three, is preferable to two and infinitely preferable to one (see Chapter 14 for details).  
I was the first server for my session, and my sister the first client. Her name is medicatedPainter, or Mary Llewellyn. Her title is Knight of Void, and her land, the Land of Gales and Shadows. Her house was small, she'd just moved out of our childhood home, and so I had place the alchemising equipment quite far apart without realising. I failed to prototype the kernalsprite, but was saved from my folly by her pet cat, which pounced on the thing and thus ended up prototyped. Xanthesprite was not initially coherent, but later upon second-tier prototyping with a wizard figurine she was quite helpful and informative.  
Next, I was brought in by my server, a friend by the name of guardedHorticulturalist, or Jason Gupta. Jason's title is Heir of Space, and his land, the Land of Sand and Frogs. Jason, already guided by his aspect, placed my equipment close together, and I was able to bring my home in quite quickly. By this point, Xanthesprite had been second-tier prototyped, and had given the usual little speech about where the two halves of the kernalsprite go after entry, so Jason grabbed a dead fox from the side of the road by my house and threw that in, on the assumption that a dead animal would work just as well. My entry object was an egg timer, which I set for one minute and waited. When it reached zero, it exploded and my house was dragged to the Land of Rain and Mechanisms.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> In case you haven't realised, Kit isn't actually the most reliable of narrators, nor does he know everything. In the end, Sburb screwed him over just like it does everybody.


	4. Chapter three: Alchemising and the Sylladex

If you don't know what a sylladex is, first, do an internet search to make sure your world hasn't already invented it. If they haven't, I shall give a short explanation. The sylladex is a card based inventory system that utilises a pocket dimension to store items via a variety of fetch modi. Your initial modus will always be stack, which is first in, last out. By first in, last out, I mean you can only access the thing you most recently placed in your sylladex, a process called captchaloging. You should be able to physically hold the cards themselves, on one side there should be an image of what is in the card (if it is empty, there should just be a blank white rectangle), on the other, a captcha code.  
One of the first things you will want to do is alchemise more sylladex cards. To do this, place one sylladex card in the punchcard designex, punch it with the correct code, 000000, and the take the card to the totem lathe along with a cruxite dowel. Carve the dowel, then take the totem to the alchemiter. There, for a certain amount of grist, you can alchemise more cards.  
To alchemise anything else, first captchalog it, then take note of the code on the back of the card. Then use the same process as you had to make the cards, but replace the code with that for the desired object. As more people enter, more and more pieces of alchemising equipment will be come available (but will not be free), these will provide shortcuts in the process. What equipment becomes available is not terribly consistent, but it rarely takes very long to figure out the objects' purposes, so I shall leave it to you to discover them.  
New objects can be created either by punching a single card with multiple codes, or by using multiple cards at once with the totem lathe. Experiment to create interesting objects, and remember that conceptual properties can often be just as important as physical ones. Hands-free computing devices and more powerful weapons are the most important things to make.  
All alchemised objects, with the exception of the entry object, cost grist, as do any alterations made to a house. Grist is obtained by killing underlings (see Chapter 9), and from some minor quests.  
Sylladices had not been created in my world before it entered, so we had to figure that system out by trial and error. Mary first figured out how to weaponise her sylladex, when she captchaloged an item without having a free card. This expelled the deepest object at high velocity. For a while, she filled her sylladex with knives and glass shards, and captchaloged things whenever she encountered underlings. I, however, favoured bashing things with a stick. Mary gathered grist and climbed her echeladder faster than me, which is normal for a Knight, nonetheless, I was irked and tried to compete until a future me from a doomed timeline second-tier prototyped foxsprite. Kitsprite was able to advise me that as a Mage, mine was a quest to understand, rather than to fight.  
Meanwhile, Jason was brought in by Janet Yao, (reasonableVegan, Witch of Blood, Land of Beat and Glass). She deployed the alchemising equipment and prototyped Jason's brother Andrew. Andysprite wasn't terribly impressed, but in hindsight it probably saved his life. Needless to say, he was one of the most helpful sprites.  
Janet in turn was brought in by Johan Thorsted, (cordialViking, Rogue of Light, Land of Mirrors and Torches), who was brought in by Beatrice Palmer, (bluntArtist, Sylph of Mind, Land of Towers and Echoes), who was brought in by Guillaume Cartier, (mapleBandit, Seer of Doom, Land of Caves and Steles), who was brought in by Cassandra Brice, (canidKeeper, Maid of Hope, Land of Light and Song), who was brought in by Mary, completing the loop. Personally, I wasn't actually that close to most of my coplayers, they were my sister's friends, with the exception of Jason. This would prove a great impediment to our progress.


	5. Chapter four: Strife Specibi

The strife specibus is the special sylladex in which you can keep a weapon. I highly advise thinking very carefully before you allocate it, because it is permanent. Knights are advised to choose bladekind, or something similar, while Witches, Mages and Seers get a bonus for magic weapons. As a general rule, passive classes like Mages, Seers and Sylphs, (and Pages, who start out weak), should choose ranged weapons, as they don't get any bonuses for close combat. Witches, Maids, Rogues, Thieves and Bards do equally well with either ranged or close combat weapons, while Knights, Heirs and Princes do best with close combat weapons. But if a player already knows how to use a particular weapon, or feels drawn to one, they should use that.  
I chose Axekind in the doomed timeline, which was what lead to the heroic death of our space player in my defence, thus dooming the timeline as Jason had not yet bred the Genesis Frog. Kitsprite made sure I chose bowkind in this timeline, a far better choice for a Mage. Mary chose Knifekind, while Jason chose Staffkind. Mary never was able to use her specibus very often, and instead largely relied either on her sylladex or on found objects and traps. Jason meanwhile almost exclusively used his specibus. I ended up largely abandoning my Bowkind in favour of magic after I went god tier.


	6. Chapter five: Classes and Aspects: Summary

Each player has a Class and an Aspect, together called a Mythological Role. The game hates repeating any Class or Aspect in a session, leading to a hard limit of twelve players for a fertile session. Any more, and the game simply won't let you breed a genesis frog. Additionally, a session requires at least four players in order to start handing out normal classes. Any fewer, and it will force Time and Space players into the master classes and begin a Lord-Muse loop (see Chapter 14), which is not a good thing for anybody. Don't do it.  
There are twelve aspects, and twelve normal classes, and in later chapters I shall deal with each in detail. But here I shall simply list them and give a brief summary.  
Aspects:  
Space: The Prospit-aligned basic aspect. If no players in a beta session would otherwise be assigned Space as an aspect, the game will force whomever enters last into it. Space is the aspect of distance and solitude, and Space players’ maturity arcs often involve long periods of solitude.  
Time: Time is the Derse-aligned basic aspect. If no other players in a beta session would otherwise be assigned Time as their aspect, the game will force whomever enters last into it, unless Space has also not been assigned, in which case it will be forced on the second last. Time is the aspect of multiplicity and inevitability, and Time players’ maturity arcs often involve repeated encounters with other selves, either from doomed timelines or from different points in their own.  
Light: Light is a strongly Prospit-aligned derivative aspect, its opposing aspect is Void. Light is the aspect of information and probability, and Light players’ maturity arcs often involve riddles, understanding and gambles.  
Void: Void is a strongly Derse-aligned derivative aspect, its opposing aspect is Light. Void is the aspect of secrecy and the unknowable, and Void players’ maturity arcs often involve accepting their limits and the absences in their lives, and keeping secrets.  
Life: Life is a weakly Prospit-aligned derivative aspect, its opposing aspect is Doom. Life is the aspect of beginnings, growth and healing, and Life players’ maturity arcs often involve repairing or healing something.  
Doom: Doom is a weakly Derse-aligned derivative aspect, its opposing aspect is Life. Doom is the aspect of endings, rules and decay, and Doom players’ maturity arcs often involve either undermining their aspect or accepting it.  
Breath: Breath is a weakly Prospit-aligned derivative aspect, its opposing aspect is Blood. Breath is the aspect of freedom and movement, and Breath players’ maturity arcs often centre around the severing of ties and fetters. Breath players are often leaders in their sessions.  
Blood: Blood is a weakly Derse-aligned derivative aspect, its opposing aspect is Breath. Blood is the aspect of community and responsibility, and Blood players’ maturity arcs often centre around the building and strengthening of ties and the assumption and acceptance of responsibilities.  
Mind: Mind is a strongly Prospit-aligned derivative aspect, its opposing aspect is Heart. Mind is the aspect of decision, consequence and splintered self, and Mind players’ maturity arcs usually centre on decisions and judgements.  
Heart: Heart is a strongly Derse-aligned derivative aspect, its opposing aspect is Mind. Heart is the aspect of feeling, emotion and unitary self, and Heart players’ maturity arcs usually centre on knowing themselves and embracing and acting on their emotions.  
Hope: Hope is a weakly Prospit-aligned derivative aspect, its opposing aspect is Rage. Hope is the aspect of possibility and confidence, and Hope players’ maturity arcs usually centre either on confidence or on open-mindedness.  
Rage: Rage Is a weakly Derse-aligned derivative aspect, its opposing aspect is Hope. Rage is the aspect of fear and limitation. Rage players are particularly dangerous to their coplayers, as their powers are usually related to undermining others decisions. Rage players’ maturity arcs usually centre either on betrayal or madness.

Classes:  
Heir: Heir is an active class with wide-ranging powers gained early on. Its passive counterpart is Page. Heirs are supposed to inherit their aspect, and are guided and protected by it, and their maturity arcs almost always centre on accepting responsibility and taking a leading role in their session. Beware of Heirs of Rage, as they will undermine all around them without even realising it. Heirs are usually naturally attuned to their aspect, so the Heir maturity arc overrides that of the aspect, and are almost always male.  
Page: Page is a passive class with extremely wide ranging powers gained late, after the completion of their maturity arc, or not all. The active counterpart of Page is Heir. Pages are all about hidden potential, so keep an eye on them. A Page in your session is usually someone considered fairly useless by most if not all, and usually has self-confidence issues. Give them help and support and they may surprise you. Unless they are Pages of Rage. Do everything you can to undermine them and kill them permanently if possible, or they will thoroughly sabotage your session. Page’s maturity arcs usually centre on confidence and learning their own skills and value. Pages are usually very poorly attuned to their aspect, or attuned only superficially, and are almost always male.  
Witch: Witch is an active class with very wide ranging powers gained mid-way through the echeladder. The passive counterpart of Witch is Sylph. Witches are able to manipulate and break the rules of their aspect, and thus have great power in the basic aspects. Witches are usually rather unusual people, and almost always female.  
Sylph: Sylph is a passive class with very limited powers, primarily related to healing and support, gained later on. The active counterpart of Sylph is Witch. Sylphs use their aspect to heal and repair, and heal and repair breaches of the rules of their aspect, which makes Sylphs of Time extremely powerful as they can undoom timelines and persons. Sylphs are usually kind and caring people, and almost always female.  
Maid: Maid is a passive class with mid-level powers gained late. Maids can both aid their aspect and create it, which makes Maids extremely versatile. The active counterpart of Maid is Knight. Maids are usually strong, independent people at ease with themselves, and usually female.  
Knight: Knight is an active class with mid-level powers acquired very early. Knights exploit their aspect and oppose it, which makes Knights very versatile and extremely valuable in the early game. In addition, they are always involved in the breeding of the Genesis Frog. The passive counterpart of Knight is Maid. Knights are often very insecure people who hide behind a persona or façade, and split evenly between genders. Something worth noting is that your Knight’s aspect is often a warning from Skaia, as it tells you what your session is lacking. In my session, this was benign, as all it signaled was that none of us had any dark secrets, but if your Knight is of Time or Space, then you have serious problems.  
Mage: Mage is an active class with mid-level powers gained slowly but consistently throughout the progression up the echeladder. Mages understand their aspect and act on that understanding, and get mild retrocognitive and precognitive powers relating to their aspect. The passive counterpoint of Mage is Seer. Mages are usually highly intelligent and competent loners, with poor social skills. Mages’ maturity arcs are usually about working alone and accepting solitude. Mages of Space are often very lonely people. Mages have a credence malus, the passive fraymotif [Cassandra], which makes it far less likely others will believe their predictions. Mages are slightly more likely to be male than female.  
Seer: Seer is a passive class with mid level powers gained slowly but consistently throughout the progression up the echeladder. Seers understand their aspect and use that understanding to advise and manipulate. The active counterpart of Seer is Mage. Seers are usually highly intelligent and verbose. Seer’s maturity arcs usually centre around accepting that they cannot control everything and must step back and allow others to act. Seers have an action malus, the passive fraymotif [Oracle], which makes them less effective if they try to act alone.  
Prince: Prince is an active class with high level active powers acquired late. Princes destroy and destroy with their aspect, and thus are usually the most powerful players in combat. The passive counterpart of Prince is Bard. Princes usually reject their aspect, consciously or unconsciously, and their maturity arcs usually centre around coming to peace with it. Princes are usually male.  
Bard: Bard is a passive class with high level passive powers acquired late. Bards invite the destruction of and invite destruction through their aspect. The active counterpoint of Bard is Prince. Bards are unsettling, they usually appear harmless on the surface but have a sinister underlayer. Bards are almost always bad news and if there is one in your session, keep an eye on them. Bards are usually male.  
Thief: Thief is an active class which gains mid-level powers mid-way along the echeladder. Thieves steal and steal from their aspect for their own benefit. The passive counterpoint of Thief is Rogue. Thieves are usually deeply unpleasant personages, vain, cruel, selfish and narcissistic. Thieves are almost always bad news, but are usually not nearly as clever as they think they are and thus can be manipulated by a competent Seer. Thieves don’t really have maturity arcs, and even if they did they would either ignore them or miss the point entirely. Thieves are usually female.  
Rogue: Rogue is a passive class with mid-level powers mid-way along the echeladder. Rogues steal and steal from their aspect for the benefit of others. Rogues are usually kind and patient people who always think of others before themselves, and usually deny their own wants and needs in favour of those of others. Rogue’s maturity arcs usually centre around learning that their own needs and desires are important too. Rogues are great to have in one’s session. Rogues are usually female.

Each class and aspect has a mirror. For classes this is a passive/active mirroring, in which active classes allow the player to utilise their aspect for themself, while passive classes allow the player to utilise their aspect to benefit others. Aspects are fuzzier, but both have conceptual overlap with certain others and are opposed to others. This is best visualised as a circle.  
Your mythological role determines your land, the quests it contains, and your powers. It can either be a reflection of who you are, or a challenge that you must rise to meet. For instance, Mary was always able to exploit the unknown, so her mythological role was a reflection of herself, while mine was a challenge to put my understanding into action, something I only truly realised after going god tier.


	7. Chapter six: Land Quests

After you enter, you will initially be a attacked by a swarm of underlings. They should be fairly weak and thus defeatable with the aid of your sprite. This will provide you with enough grist for your server to build your house up to the first gate (a note for server players, bear in mind when building that the house is going to have to stretch up potentially hundreds of floors, so don't build flimsily). Your sprite should explain that the gates above your home (the glowing spirographs floating in a line directly above the centre of the building) lead to different locations. At the same time they should explain the general mythology of the game, that two armies are battling in the centre of Skaia, that until you entered they were in stalemate, and that with each subsequent entry the battlefield becomes larger and more complex and the victory of the forces of destruction ever more inevitable. Depending on their mood, they may or may not explain about the nature of Skaia, the game, Derse and Prospit, your Land, or your mythological role.  
Either way, the important part is that once you reach your first gate you can begin your land quests. I recommend waiting and climbing your echeladder a bit first, at least until your sprite gives you the amulet to summon them. Be certain to have at least one mobile computing device on you when you leave, preferably the one you are running the server app on as well as something you can use to communicate with your coplayers. This will allow you to continue assisting your coplayers as time goes on, particularly important if you are a Seer, Mage, Sylph, Mind player, Life player or Heart player, and especially if you are some combination of these.  
Once you have gone through the first gate, it should not take you too long to find one of your consorts. The consorts are the native populace of your land, and can only be understood by their player. They are not terribly bright, and will not recognise you as the hero of their legends until you go god tier, but they will provide you with valuable information about your Maturity Quest, land quests, the nature of your title, and will sell you (frequently questionable) food and fraymotifs. Get your consorts onside promptly, for they shall be a loyal and tireless resource as you play, and can be used to alchemise, act as couriers, as spies, and as helpers in certain dungeons and puzzles.  
As a general rule, you should endevour to do as many of the quests your land offers as possible, as they contain valuable information about your mythological role, its powers, its limitations, and why you were assigned it. They are also excellent ways to climb the echeladder, gain boondollars (the game's currency) and unlock new powers. Additionally, they are usually intimately connected with your Land Quest, which you must complete before your denizen will offer you the Choice.  
The Land of Rain and Mechanisms was a seemingly endless forest punctuated with enormous clock towers, often looming over small villages, bathed in a constant drizzle. These villages were inhabited by sentient (more-or-less) foxes, a most helpful coincidence, for it meant they instinctively trusted Kitsprite (another example of an aspect guiding its Heir). From them I learned that my Land Quest was to conduct the Symphonia Universalis, and that in order to do so I would need to track down and repair the automata that composed the orchestra. I also learned, from riffling through a library in one of the larger villages (a minor quest given by its residents was to recover a book stolen by imps), that I had the ability to see the future, though it would take me a while to do so, and longer still to realise that as a Mage, the game would prevent my coplayers from believing me when I advised them, because that is was a Seer does.  
About the same time Kitsprite explained how time travel works, and while I did not, and could not, use it until I went god tier, I did learn that I would do so when Jason reported seeing a me in strange clothes grab my family and vanish with them. It was somewhat unnerving to realise that my actions were, to a certain degree, inevitable, but also somewhat freeing. I made it to a return node near the top of my echeladder, and from thence went through my second gate to the Land of Salt and Frogs. Finding it quite dull, I continued to the Land of Beat and Glass where I met up with Jason and Janet, and fought imps. By the time I made it back to LoRaM, I was at the top of my echeladder, the Black Queen was dead, and the Reckoning imminent. That was when I did something I don't think Mary will ever forgive.


	8. Chapter seven: Derse and Prospit

When players dream, they go to their dream bodies on either Prospit or Derse's moon. There is a strong association between some aspects and either Derse or Prospit, while others will easily shift between them. Time, Heart and Void are strongly linked to Derse, while Space, Mind and Light are strongly linked to Prospit. The game will always try to balance Prospit and Derse dreamers, hence the importance of having an even number of players.  
Your dreamself can often seem rather unreliable and easily distracted, and it's not uncommon for people who prototype their dreamselves to find them unbearable, so I advise you don't do that. Their primary benefits lie in acting as sources of information (especially for Prospit dreamers), as vehicles to weaken your opposition (Derse dreamers) and as a means of resurrection. If your primary body dies, you can be resurrected in the form of your dreamself if you are kissed on the mouth by another player within a certain period of time (unfortunately, it's not consistent), or by going godtier (see Chapter 10).  
Prospit is the kingdom of light, the defender of Skaia, and the proponent of creation. It is inhabited by white carapaces and its dreamers are beloved and can approach the White Queen for advice. Prospit dreamers can take advantage of Skaia's oracle clouds during eclipses to receive visions of past, present and future events. Prospitians love and worship the Genesis Frog, whom they call ‘Our Glorious Croaker’, and will happily assist in its creation.  
Derse is the kingdom of darkness, the opposition to Skaia and the creation of a new universe. It is inhabited by black carapaces, and has a film noir feel. Derse dreamers should be on their toes, but can conspire with Jack Noir and the Midnight Crew to dispose of the Black Queen and sabotage the Dersite war effort. Derse dreamers can consult the Horrorterrors of the Furthest Ring during eclipses, who can often be far more helpful than the oracle clouds if sufficient caution is used. Dersite tabloids are often amusingly sleazy, and make for excellent comedy. Dersites loathe and revile the Genesis Frog, whom they call disdainfully ‘Billious Slick’ and ‘the Pondsquatter’, and any amphibian or depiction of an amphibian. As Queens, through their rings, take on the features of the prototyped sprites in the same manner as Underlings, prototyping a frog or toad will compel Derse’s Queen to remove her ring, and thus reject most of her power, in disgust, and hide it away as a shameful secret.


	9. Chapter eight: Alpha and Beta Sessions

This is a short, but important chapter. An alpha session is one that has been predestined. There is only ever one alpha session for each iteration of the game. The players of an alpha session are created paradoxically using ectobiology from within the game, and then delivered to their world in the past by meteor during the Reckoning. Alpha session players are always adolescents. Beta sessions are not predestined, and the players are just ordinary people, and can be of any age. Alpha sessions have far stricter timelines, as deviation can result in the players having never existed. Beta sessions are far easier to keep within a stable timeline, but their players do not have the genetic advantages that ectobiologically cloned alpha session players do. Additionally, usually one player in an alpha session will live next to a volcano, and have precognitive tendencies, and at least one player will live near weird amphibian-themed ruins. I was part of a beta session, which means I cannot provide too much information about the exact workings of alpha sessions.


	10. Chapter nine: Fraymotifs, the Echeladder and Underlings

The echeladder is the game's leveling system. Levels are referred to as rungs, and each rung has a unique name, different for each individual. Various actions can lead to climbing the echeladder, but the fastest, most consistent, and most reliable is to kill underlings. Completing quests also tends to level one up, in addition to whatever reward they give.  
Fraymotifs are, in essence, battle music. They give various buffs and debuffs, and are frequently reliant on the presence of multiple players. You can access your fraymotifs either by asking your sprite, or simply by saying their names. Alternately, you can allow automotif, in which case the game will play all relevant fraymotifs automatically. Since you always have to hear them, you might not want to do this.  
Underlings are the game's most common adversary. Their form and abilities are dictated by what you prototype, so for the love of all that you hold dear, don't prototype something you can't bear to hurt. Each player's prototypings affect every underling in the session. Underlings come in various sizes, from imp to ogre, and will almost inevitably vandalise your home. If they can, they will kidnap any loved ones you brought into the medium and take them to Derse. After you reach a certain point on the echeladder, underlings will attempt to flee from you rather than fight. If you go god tier, underlings will almost never attack you and will avoid doing things that might attract your attention. After the Black King is killed, the underlings disappear entirely.  
The more times you prototype, the more varieties of underling are created, and the more kinds of grist they produce. Nonetheless, I don’t advise prototyping any sprite more than twice.


	11. Chapter ten: God Tier

When you reach the top of your echeladder, you'll find that in order to progress you have two options. Either engage in a complex, often convoluted and frequently highly irritating role playing scenario with your coplayers, or go god tier. In order to go god tier, you must do one of two things. If both your waking and dream selves are alive, you must take your waking self to your dream bed and then die on it. You will merge with your dreamself as a god tier and awake wherever it is. Your dream bed can be located on your land, high on an improbably tall and narrow mountain, with a glowing symbol of your aspect hovering over it.  
If you are down to just one body, you must go to the moon you dreamt on, and find your way down into its centre. There you will find your crypt bed, which will simply be a slab of stone with your aspect symbol on it. Again, you must die on it. You will resurrect there as a god tier.  
God tiers get magic pyjamas, called a godhood, and a set of perks. All god tiers except Blood players can fly, and all god tiers have conditional immortality. God tiers no longer have an echeladder, but instead gain 'achievement badges' on a 'kiddie camper handysash' (I wish I was making this up), each of which gives powers. The most useful one is Gift of the Gab, which allows you to talk to anybody, without restriction, an immensely useful skill if your session involves people who don't all speak the same language.  
Conditional immortality means that if a god tier is killed, they will resurrect within a minute or so, unless their death was 'Just' or 'Heroic'. Neither term is very well defined. As such, I advise god tiers remain cautious about life-threatening incidents.  
I was the first in my session to go god tier. I had been consulting the horrorterrors for some time by then, and they had told me that I could gain no more power unless I let them in, or went god tier. Naturally, I then proceeded to ask Kitsprite about god tier. I didn't discuss it with my coplayers, but I did ask Mary for her help. As she had alchemised a jet pack, she was already able to fly, so I asked her to help me get to my quest bed. She didn't know what it was, and I didn't tell her. I lied about why I wanted to go there.  
Mary had always distrusted the horrorterrors and often still treated me like a child, so I told her I needed to get there for a quest. I asked her to stay, I am ashamed to admit, because I was scared. I stood in the centre of my quest bed and asked my sister if I could borrow one of her knives, and when she gave it to me, I plunged it into my heart. By this point, we knew a kiss could revive the dead, but Kitsprite prevented her from kissing me, and when the godtiering began got her out of the way. Godtiering is a rather violent process, with one's aspect enveloping one's corpse and sort of just whooshing around. Each Mythological Role also has a godtiering fraymotif that plays all across the Medium throughout the process, in my case [Raise the Baton], a rather pleasant piece with violins and cello. It really isn't advisable to be too near a godtiering player.  
When I awoke on Derse, it was to a crowd of reverent carapaces and a rather confused Cassandra. Needless to say, most of my coplayers were quite angry when the story came out.


	12. Chapter eleven: Facing the Black King

At a certain point, typically once all players are either god tier or within three rungs of the top of their echeladder, usually a few weeks into the game, the forces of Derse will defeat the White King and acquire his sceptre, which will then be presented to the Black King who will use it to initiate the Reckoning. The Reckoning is when the meteors of the Veil are propelled towards Skaia and the Battlefield by the power of the White King's sceptre. Skaia attempts to defend itself by opening portals back to your world, thus creating the apocalypse the players fled. Don't feel feel guilty about that though, your Alpha session would still have produced more than enough meteors to destroy your world even if nobody else had played. Once the Reckoning has begun, the clock is ticking. You must kill the Black King and destroy the White King's sceptre before the Reckoning can destroy the Battlefield. The portals will give you some leeway, but not much because Skaia can only open so many and so as time ticks on more and more meteors, and larger meteors, will get through. The Black King, like the White King, the Queens, and all underlings, will have an appearance and powerset based on what was prototyped by your players. This can potentially be used to your advantage, for instance, by prototyping a pet who'd never hurt their owner, or by prototyping a doll that's had both arms ripped off.  
Some things, however, are consistent. The Black King is always violent and impossible to reason with. He is also always enormous. He will always elect to fight the players alone, rather than with his army, and if he is somehow killed before the Reckoning, a Dersite Carapace will always take up his sceptre and acquire his powers and nature. This can be disastrous, as the Black King is quite stupid, but many other dark carapaces are not.  
By the time the players face the Black King, they should be more than able to take him. Defeating him and stopping the Reckoning is typically a long, tiring process, as the King is still extremely durable even if he can't seriously hurt you, but so long as you are careful and cooperate with your coplayers, you should all make it out alive.


	13. Chapter twelve: The Endgame

As you make your way towards the higher rungs of your echeladders, you must turn more and more of your attention to the endgame. Specifically, your Space player, hopefully guided by their sprite and assisted by your Knight (unless you have a Knight of Space, in which case they’re on their own), needs to breed the Genesis Frog (see ch. 18), ideally before the Reckoning. Preferably, all players would see their Denizens before fighting the Black King, but the timing on this is less urgent. One thing to be wary of is the need to secure both Queens’ rings, as they are vital for lighting the Forge. If one or both of the rings have been lost, it may be necessary to have your Time player engage in temporal shenanigans to retrieve them.  
Try not to let any of your players die permanently before they have seen their Denizen and either made the Choice or killed them, because otherwise your party will have to kill that Denizen in order to release the Grist Horde, which is a vital to the final stages. Once the Black King is defeated and the Reckoning ended, you will have to drill down into the centre of the Battlefield, then build all your homes up to the seventh gate. Then, you must place the final item in the Phernalia Registry, the Grist Rig, on top of your home. The Grist Rig will then channel the Grist Horde that your Denizen has released into Skaia, priming it to receive the Genesis Frog. Then, if your Space player has followed the instructions in chapter 18, you will need to do nothing more but sit back on the Victory Platform and watch the show. I can assure you that it is spectacular.


	14. Chapter thirteen: Denizens and the Choice

Deep in the centre of each land is a great creature known as the Denizen. The Denizen guards the grist hoard, which is necessary for the Ultimate Alchemy, the creation of a new universe. There are two possible was to acquire the hoard. Either the player must slay their Denizen, or they must negotiate with them. Some Denizens are more easily negotiated with than others, Echidna, the Denizen of Space, particularly so. Regardless, all Denizens will offer their players the Choice, and that word is capitalised for a reason. Trust me, you can hear the capital letter when you talk about it.  
The Choice is different for every player, and marks the apex of their maturity arc. It is always binary, and there is never a wrong answer. You must simply do what feels right. You can have no aid in this decision, not least because, like Consorts, each Denizen speaks in a tongue comprehensible only to their player. I am unsure whether another player of the same aspect could understand it, as it is exceedingly rare for an aspect to be repeated in a session, or for a player to move between sessions.  
My Denizen, Hephaestus, is grouchy but ultimately reasonable. The Forgelord will refuse to negotiate until the Space player has lit the Forge, and so I did not make my Choice until after Jason had made his. Hephaestus gave me the Choice, to either understand the truth of Sburb, and leave an echo of that to aid untold multitudes across Paradox Space, or to save my own world, to go back and retrieve my planet before the meteors could cause too much damage and bring it into my new universe. I chose the former, and I do not think my coplayers will ever forgive me for that.  
Not all Choices have the same dramatic scale as mine. Jason’s, for instance was whether to take our lands with him into the new universe or to start entirely afresh, and in doing so keep his sylladex useful in the endgame. He chose to take our Lands, because he could not bear to see others suffer, even game constructs.  
Mary’s Choice was between two weapons Nyx offered, a sword and a shield. She chose the sword, Caledfwlch.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And here we finally see what Kit feels he has to defend. His guilt is not entirely unreasonable, though he doesn't know that Sburb offered him a false choice, for he neither understands everything about it, nor could he have saved the people of his world, who were already dead by the point he could have gotten there. Sburb is casually cruel that way.


	15. Chapter fourteen: Void Sessions, Cursed Sessions and Glitches

Hopefully, this chapter is only of academic interest. If not, I am terribly sorry. A Void Session is one in which the kernalsprites were not prototyped before entry, and is infertile. Typically, there is no Space or Time player in a Void Session. Void Session players are called Nobles, and their lands are devoid of life. The Underlings are skeletal things, no matter how many times the sprites are prototyped post entry, and give no grist and almost no experience. The consorts are all long dead, and their lands covered in vast funerary monuments that they built. These monuments, and the puzzles they contain, are the only real source of grist in a Void Session, other than the Hoards. If you are in a Void Session, then you have my deepest sympathies, for you are trapped. You cannot make a new universe nor return to your old one. The only solution is one I have only heard about in the broodwhispers of the Horrorterrors, to leave your session and travel to another, fertile one. Unfortunately, it is almost impossible to navigate the Furthest Ring, where Time and Space are fused and confused and there are no landmarks. You might be able to make a deal with a Horrorterror for passage and guidance, but I would warn you that whatever its price, you will regret paying it.  
A Cursed Session is one that has only one player. It can never bear fruit, and its mechanics exist to punish the fool who presumed to try and play alone. A Cursed Session has two paths, that of the Conqueror and that of the Sacrifice, both vital in a Lord-Muse Loop (see ch.15), however only available to a Lord or a Muse. If the player is neither, then they are doomed to wander the wasteland of their entry-planet until they die.  
There are several common glitches that can occur. Entry glitches are usually the fault of whomever coded the false-programmes, either simple typo or corner cutting. If no kernalsprite exists preentry it is generated upon entry, pre prototyped with a Carapacian pawn. Another common entry glitch is for either too large or too small an area to be brought into the Medium. The game compensates as best it can, and ultimately neither is game breaking.  
Once in the game, glitches are usually the fault of your own universe’s creators. If they cut corners during the frog-breeding process, it can cause any number of glitches within the game, including but not limited to erratic NPC behaviour, incomplete lands and quests, repeated classes or aspects, absent denizens, missing or broken portals, absent or erratic underlings, broken dreamself mechanics, temporal distortion within the session, atypical Horrorterror involvement, broken Land Quests and maturity arcs. The list goes on. If it is a game mechanic, it can be glitched. Few glitches are fatal for a session, and most glitched sessions breed their own frog without buggering it up, so a glitched session is really more of an inconvenience than anything else. All I can really recommend is talking to your sprite to identify what is glitched, and then working around it.


	16. Chapter fifteen: Lord-Muse Loops, Green Suns and Dream Bubbles

A Lord-Muse loop is a very specific game mechanic that occurs when a session has fewer than three players. When this occurs, the players of Space and Time are forced into the Master Classes, Lord and Muse. The Lord class is absolutely and completely active, the Lord controls and destroys their aspect, that this always combines with one of the basic aspects makes it especially frightening. The Muse class is its passive counterpart, and is a absolutely passive, the Muse inspires and directs their aspect. While this may seem unbalanced, it actually is not, as I will explain. A session with a Lord and Muse will always be doomed to become a cursed session, as the Lord and Muse will inevitably kill one another before the game can be played. There are always at least two branching paths, one in which the Lord wins, and one in which the Muse does (if there is a third player, there can be a third one in which they win, but this is rare, and quite depressing because they inevitably starve to death on a dead world in an inert Medium).  
Players in Cursed Sessions are handicapped in multiple ways. Firstly, they have no sprite to guide them, nor is a world created for them, but rather the one they came from is dragged through into the medium and purged of life. They cannot access Skaia’s oracle clouds, as Skaia goes dark and, as far as I can tell, sulks. The Horrorterrors will also avoid such sessions. They rarely take any interest, likely because they usually end up damaged when they do. The Lord or Muse will eventually find a device of some sort, it seems to vary, requiring keys to activate. The more keys they find, hidden in random, unmarked places, the more of the device is active, and the more of their aspect it allows them to interact with. Sooner or later, they eventually find all the keys and unlock the path to Yaldabaoth, the denizen that always presides over Cursed Sessions. Yaldabaoth will then give them what is probably the only pre-scripted Choice in the game, that between the Path of the Conqueror and the Path of the Sacrifice.  
Lords usually, but don’t always choose the Path of the Conqueror, and Muses usually, but don’t always choose the Path of the Sacrifice. What does always happen is that whichever Path one chooses, the other will always choose opposite. The Path of the Conqueror flings the player into a complex challenge to conquer up to fifteen worlds in exponentially shorter time spans, acquiring a servant with powers relating to their aspect with each world. At the end, if they succeed, the player is granted unconditional immortality and license to destroy as much of Paradox Space as they please. This, as should be clear, is why the Horrorterrors stay away from Cursed Sessions.  
Path of the Sacrifice, meanwhile, results in the player’s instant death, but carry’s the promise that they will one day destroy their conquering counterpart. They then lurk in the dreambubbles until conditions align in exactly the right way, and they do exactly that, turning the Green Sun into a Black Hole and trapping both themselves and the Conqueror within for the rest of eternity.  
The Green Sun is a unique piece of real estate in the furthest ring, a lime green star the size of two universes blazing away merrily. It powers the Conqueror's servants, including those that are born of it, the First Guardians, and is a useful landmark in the infinite void. First Guardians are spawned on a world when the Frog Temple containing the code for S***b is seeded by the Alpha Session’s Reckoning. A First Guardian is either pure white (Space), or pure black (Time), and has an aspect and powers opposite to that of their Conqueror. The First Guardian ensures that the game is played, at least by its Alpha Session, and reserves a spot for the Conqueror in that universe. If you hear of an entity matching the description of a First Guardian, then I am sorry. Your world is especially fucked.  
Dreambubbles are both an afterlife for players, and a form of intersessional short term memory for the game. They consist of the memories of every player in a session or set of linked sessions and all their doomed timelines. The shades of permanently dead players reside in these, which just float in the furthest ring in between sessions. The Horrors will herd them together to prevent intersessional mixing, but don’t seem able to differentiate between linked sessions, or between different timelines, so, enjoy meeting thousands of dead versions of yourself. It’s going to be awful.  
Players who godtier will start sending a dream avatar out into their sessions dreambubbles when they sleep. This can be really disconcerting the first time, especially if you have had no previous interactions with the Horrorterrors, but it soon just becomes annoying. It can, however, be a useful source of advice and information from alternate selves and assorted deceased players, assuming you are able to get along with alternate selves and the deceased. When a session is won and the gods go through their door into their new universe, the Horrors begin to use the dreambubbles of that session as a shield against whichever Conqueror is threatening their segment of Paradox Space, and manipulating the shades to act as lures. The Conqueror's destruction of the bubbles eventually destabilises Paradox Space enough that the Sacrifice can collapse the Green Sun. This also conveniently clears the game’s memory for new sessions.


	17. Chapter sixteen: Alpha-Specific Mechanics

I am working entirely from hearsay on this one, so you have my apologies. Alpha Sessions are those played by predestined players, who are created during the session via ectobiology and seeded on their homeworld via the Reckoning. Ectobiology is the method though which Prospit and Derse create their vast clone armies and involves creating a paradox slime clone by attempting to teleport to the machine someone who has already not been teleported there. This is usually fairly instinctive for the ectobiologist, who is the first player into an Alpha Session. Using ectobiology they create the players’ parents as true clones, then combine the slime to create the players themselves. They then place the infant players and parents on meteors and Skaia does the rest.  
The other major Alpha-specific mechanic is the Scratch, which unlike in a Beta Session is not just a one-way time travel mechanism. In an Alpha Session, the Scratch flips the arrival times of the players and their parents, wiping the session from existence and allowing a new one where the original players’ parents are the new players. Scratched Alpha Sessions very rarely if ever produce Beta Sessions, which is a pretty shit deal all around.


	18. Chapter seventeen: Time

Time is one of the two Basic Aspects, which means that any Fertile Session must have a Time player. Without one, the resultant universe would have no time, and thus be stuck in a changeless tableau. The Denizen of Time is Hephaestus, the Forgelord, and Time always aligns to Derse. Time players have charge of the Great Mechanism, the method by which a Scratch may be performed, should the Session be an Alpha one. Otherwise, the Great Mechanism merely allows a form of one-way time travel for its player, permitting them to alter the timeline outside of a stable loop. It is, however, usually fatal. Kitsprite came to be because he used his Mechanism, and avoided death by prototyping himself. I do not recommend doing this oneself unless all hope is lost, however.  
All Time players possess the ability to travel in stable loops, though some classes are more adept than others. With the exception of Knights and Heirs, stable looping is a godtier ability. Maids, Thieves and Rogues can bring doomed versions of themselves into the timeline pre and post godtier, while Pages are fairly useless until they complete their maturity arc.  
All Time players share an interest in the past, be it history, archaeology, paleontology, or something unique to their culture.  
Maid of Time: The Maid class is far more powerful then it first appears, being able to create its aspect. A Maid can extend a second into minutes, and almost eternity once godtier, and can travel back in time at the cost of dooming themselves. Once they hit the godtiers Maids have access to stable loops, flight and a set of powerful fraymotifs, such as [Clear the Calendar], which dooms its target, [Clean the Clock], which allows them to clean up a loop and undoom its occupant and [Made of It] which traps the subject in a moment. They also have access to the shared Time player godtier motif [Time to Talk], which creates a small bubble of time in which players may speak.  
Knight of Time: Knights gain their powers early and comprehensively, being able to travel both in stable loops and doomed splinters about a third the way up their echeladder. The primary benefit to a Knight in going godtier is flight and conditional immortality, along with the ability to take others along when they time travel. Knights have access to a variety of shared motifs, like [Got your Back], [Look at Me] and [Sword and Shield], along with classpect particular ones, in this case, [Knighttime], which forces the target to move to its beat and thus predictably, [Clock ‘Em], which extends any incapacitation, and [Time to Arrive], which speeds travel to a fight. A Knight of Time is a signal from Skaia that you have much less time than you thought you did, and this should be taken seriously. Skaia does not assign this Role lightly.  
Heir of Time: Heirs are by nature protected and aided by their aspect, and upon reaching godtier are able to commune with it. Heirs can command their aspect in a way few other classes can, and an Heir of Time is more dangerous than most. Heirs of Time are serendipitously always right where they need to be at any given time, doing right what they need to be doing. They are never late nor early, if you think they are it is because it is better for them to be so. Heirs of Time gain the ability to loop about two thirds of the way up their echeladder, and are always able to send other things and people through time using the fraymotif [Not this Time]. Godtier Heirs are able to use their powers over time to delay events they don’t want to happen, using the fraymotif [Not Yet], and are able to doom opponents with the motif [Out of Time]. They can gain a major vim and vigor boost using the motif [It’s My Time], and pre-godtier Heirs can purchase a subconscious motif called [Time to Rise] which will ensure that they will go godtier.  
Seer of Time: Seers are excellent strategists and commanders, and all use the motif [Seeing is Believing] to make others trust them instinctively. Seers of Time are able to see the whole timeline, both future and past, and what actions will doom it. They have access to the motifs [Time to Think], which ensconces them in a little bubble of time while they See, [Time to Listen], which ensures they always have enough time to instruct their coplayers, and [Look Out], which gives a major perception boost. Godtier Seers of Time have access to the motifs [Look Ahead], which is a passive motif that allows them to see about a second into the future at all times, and [Sightline], which allows them to pinpoint the point at which any timeline might be doomed, as well as the point at which any outcome became inevitable. Pre godtier Seers of Time can only see the most likely futures, whilst godtiering allows them to see all possible futures and where they diverge from one another.  
Mage of Time: My own class, Mage, is not dissimilar to that of Seer, however where the Seer perceives and advises, the Mage understands and acts. A Mage of Time has an instinctive perception of pivotal points in the timeline. A Seer would have to use [Sightline] to know what events are crucial in the timeline’s development, but a Mage knows in the moment. Mages of Time have access to the motifs [Chronomancy], which allows them to see ahead in the timeline and see pivotal events and probable outcomes, [Chronurgy], which allows them to speed or slow the passage of time for the target, and [Time for a Change], which allows some limited looping, at the cost of being able to communicate during the loop. Mages have a natural perception boost, but suffer a strong credence malus, which is slightly weakened by going godtier. Godtier Mages of Time have access to the motifs [Believe Me This Time], which temporarily removes the credence malus but has a long cooldown, and [Magic Time], which gives significant damage bonuses when combined with a magic weapon.  
Rogue of Time: Rogues steal their aspect to benefit others, and so Rogues of Time specialise in buying their coplayers time. Their motifs largely focus on delaying opponents and on stealth. Rogues have few obvious abilities prior to going godtier, their biggest advantage is the fraymotif [Lookaway], a motif shared with other Rogues that gives a slight stealth buff and plays unconsciously. Rogues of Time have specific access to the motifs [A Moment of Your Time] which allows them to steal a small amount of time from the target and share it among the party, and [Time to Share] which allows them to give some of their own time to a copayer. Upon godtiering, Rogues of Time gain a stronger passive stealth buff, as well as the motif [Going Rogue], which provides a major evasion buff.  
Thief of Time: Thieves steal their aspect for their own benefit. Thieves of Time are particularly dangerous, as they deprive their coplayers of time. Pre godtier, Thieves of Time have only one ability, which is to steal the time from the target, thus freezing them in place and giving the Thief twice as long to think and act. Post godtier, they can scale that up to whole planets, and can undoom themselves by dooming another player. Thieves of Time are bad news, and should be prevented from reaching godtier or climbing their echeladder to any great degree, and once in the new universe, they should be killed or permanently imprisoned.  
Page of Time: Pages are people with great potential, but serious insecurities. A Page of Time is basically useless until they finish their maturity arc, but once they do, they have near complete control over their aspect and are almost certainly the most powerful player in their session. I honestly don’t know what powers a fully realised Page of Time might have, as I understand it, it is a very rare combination of class and aspect, and Pages' powers tend to be more constrained by what they think they can do than by the game.  
Witch of Time: A Witch of Time can warp and distort time to their whim at higher levels on their echeladder, and once godtier can stretch a day into years or crush a lifetime into an hour. Don’t piss them off. A Witch of Time is a powerful strategic asset, especially with the fraymotif [As Long As I Want], which allows them to warp time around themselves, and the godtier motif [Do it Later], which allows them to move events along the timeline.  
Sylph of Time: A Sylph of Time is a healer, and can both speed up others’ healing processes with the motif [Get Better Soon] and heal timelines with the godtier motif [A Stitch in Time]. Sylphs of Time are powerful supporters and are immensely valuable to any session, particularly with the passive motif [Patience], which means they are never too late to save someone, though they may still decide not to.  
Prince of Time: Princes of Time have serious psychological issues, but if you can solve, or at least stabilise them, they are basically the heaviest hitters in the game. If you can’t, you need to restrain them early on because they can and will doom you all. A Prince of Time destroys time and destroys with time, so they shorten the amount of time you have to get anything done every time they use their offensive motif [Out of Time], and they can doom targets with the motif [End of the Line]. Additionally, they can corrode or weather materials with the motif [Impatience], which makes it harder to restrain them. Your best bet is to knock them out and keep them knocked out.  
Bard of Time: One of the worst signals the game can give you is a Bard of Time. They mean that time is not on your side, and therefore you need to hurry to complete the game before it all goes to hell. Even restraining and knocking out a Bard is of limited use, as their powers are all passive. Bards of Time are playing the motif [TickTock] from the moment they enter, which slowly erodes time, pulling events along the timeline so that they happen sooner than they would. To my knowledge no Bard of Time has ever gone godtier, but if they did their session would have been doomed.


	19. Chapter eighteen: Space

Space is the other Basic Aspect, and every fertile session must have a Space Player, for the simple reason they only they can breed the Genesis Frog. The denizen of Space is Echidna, who is actually fairly easy to get on with, and whose Choice will almost always relate to actions to be undertaken post game. If your Space Player agrees to Echidna’s condition, she will light the Forge and agree to release the Genesis Tadpole at the appropriate time. Otherwise, she must be killed and the Space Player will have to do all that manually. As far as I know, no Space Player has ever refused Echidna’s condition, which is always quite reasonable.  
In order to breed the Genesis Frog, the Space player must, with the assistance of their session’s Knight, utilise ectobiology equipment to breed successively nearer approximations of the divine frog. Once the Genesis Frog is bred (or one near enough, though this can seriously glitch the resulting universe so, don't cut that corner unless you absolutely have to), the Space player must go to Echidna and give her the Genesis Tadpole and make a Choice. Then they must arrange to Light the Forge, which is a euphemism for throwing the Queens' rings in the damn thing. After that, you're good, so long as you defeat the Black King before the Reckoning totally destroys the Battlefield, drill a giant-arse hole in the thing, and prime it with the Grist Hoards, Echidna will take care of the rest.  
Jason and Mary dealt with the frog breeding, immediately after I godtiered. Mary wasn't talking to me, she was understandably pissed. Jason, for his part, was trying to play peacemaker and did ultimately succeed, again, his aspect guided him to the best outcome without his knowledge. I assisted Jason to godtier after he bred the Genesis Frog, so as to make acquiring the Black Queen's ring easier. This precipitated a rather tense argument with Mary that, after much sniping and apologising, resulted in her death-by-insane-Dersite (seriously, Noir is a bit of a maniac and likes stabbing Knights for some bizarre reason. I'm not sure he realises that most species don't take stab wounds in their stride the same way carapaces do.) and resurrection (Jason figured out [Right Over There] in a hurry). She then proceeded to kill Noir, but that is another story.  
Maid of Space: A Maid of Space can warp the fabric of reality in a truly unsettling way. They can create space, which means that they can create entropy, which as my fellow Time players understand means they also can shorten the lifespan of a universe. This, however, is a godtier ability. Prior to godtiering, Maids of Space are actually fairly weak, though they do get a whole range of fraymotifs to aid in frog breeding, like [I Can Feel It In My Waters], which guides them towards the next frog they need. Like all Space players, they have access to the shared passive motif [Compass], which gives a boost to navigation.  
Knight of Space: Knights of Space gain the ability to teleport early, and are therefore a terror on a battlefield, though they only gain the ability to bring others along after godtiering. They have access to several handy area-effect motifs, like [Twilight Zone], which requires a Void player and makes players within the area intangible when they aren't attacking. Knights of Space are extreme generalists, just as good on their own and on a team, which is good because they are a warning from Skaia that a session's playerset is unstable. A session with a Knight of Space is likely to have an abundance of players who prefer to work alone, which can sabotage them if they don't make sure to come together when they need to. The most significant thing about a Knight of Space is that they have to breed their Genesis Frog alone, which tends to suit them, as they are most usually loners themselves. It is my suspicion that the Knight class may have first evolved to be exclusive to Space, and only later became generalised over all aspects. This might explain why other Knights are always involved in frog breeding.  
Heir of Space: An Heir of Space is always in exactly the right place at the right time. It is infuriating. Believe me. They are also never, ever lost. Heirs of Space have almost all passive powers pre-godtier, but they are incredibly useful. Particularly [Right Place Right Time], which, used with a Time player makes it almost impossible for an enemy to land a hit on them and almost impossible for an enemy to dodge their own blows, and [Serendipity], which is a passive motif that plays right from the moment they enter that guides them to wherever they need to be. The latter is particularly helpful with frog breeding, and allowed Jason to finish well before the Reckoning. Also useful is [I Gotta Get Outta This Place], which teleports the player to some random location, but has a long cooldown period. Post godtier, Heirs of Space have access to the extremely powerful teleportation motifs [Right Over There] and [Beam Me Up], which allow them to teleport other people and things, and themselves respectively anywhere they know to exist. I am of the opinion that Heirs are just generally overpowered, but Jason disagrees, and he is so infuriatingly appealing a person that I cannot stay mad at him.  
Page of Space: Like all Pages, those of Space are fairly useless prior to the completion of their maturity quest. After they have done so, they are probably every bit as powerful as fully realised Pages of Time, and they are equally rare. Jason pit forward a theory, and being as this is his aspect I shall give it to the reader to consider, that just as the Master Classes are restricted to the Basic Aspects, so might certain ordinary classes, such as Page, be restricted to lesser aspects. I could not say if this is true, but it might explain why none of the Horrorterrors I consulted had come across a Page of Space or of Time. Or perhaps the Horrorterrors are fucking with me. One never knows with them.  
Seer of Space: A Seer of Space is the ultimate voyeur. They can project their vision anywhere within the incipisphere using the fraymotif [Spyglass], and once they hit godtier, they can use the motif [Omniopticon] to view the whole session at once, and use the passive motif [My Head Right Round] to see 360° around themselves, which I imagine is rather disorientating at first. A Seer of Space is a huge boon to a session tactically, however, the complete erasure of privacy they entail might well have serious consequences for the player group’s cohesion.  
Mage of Space: A Mage of Space has an instinctive knowledge of the position and velocity of nearby objects granted by the passive motif [On My Radar], which activates immediately upon entry. Its range increases as the Mage climbs the echeladder, and expands to cover the whole incipisphere after godtiering. The other two motifs of note Mages of Space have acess to are earned about two thirds of the way up the echeladder, [What if?], which combines with [On My Radar] and allows them to predict how shifts in gravity would effect the velocity of objects, and [Conductor Astrae], which allows for the manipulation of gravity in a limited area. These also scale in strength and range based on the echeladder.  
Rogue of Space: A Rogue of Space is a terror on the battlefield, able to appear and disappear without warning by using the fraymotif [Spacewalk], which is gained early on and allows for almost imperceptible teleporting. Unlike other Space players, they make no lighteffects or sound when they teleport, which makes them extremely adept at psychological warfare. Get them to the Battlefield quickly, and they can buy you a lot of time before the Reckoning. Like all Rogues, they are extremely personable and generous to a fault. Their Maturity Quests usually centre around learning that it is alright to want some time alone and some space of their own.  
Thief of Space: We all know a Thief of Space, they're that one accquaintance we all have who barges into your house, scatters their stuff all over the place, eats all your food, and before you know it you discover not only have they moved in, but you've moved out whilst still paying the rent. If you have one as a coplayer, resist the urge to strangle them, you need them. You can strangle them after they've bred the Genesis Frog. They can shove enemies aside using the motif [Outta My Way].  
Witch of Space: A Witch of Space is not someone to cross lightly. At the higher rungs of the echeladder, they have access to a range of space-distorting motifs, like [The Biggest, Blackest] or [Compression]. They also gain the ability to teleport themselves and others immediately upon godtiering, using the motif [Pop Goes You]. They can also turn you inside out with their minds. Be warned. They also run the passive motif [TARDIS] from game entry, which grants them a major boost to sylladex capacity.  
Sylph of Space: A Sylph of Space is a fairly understated person. By nature, they tend to be peacemakers, and prefer to avoid those they dislike rather than confront them. Their powers are gained late, and mostly consist of passive motifs like [Smoother] and [Knit and Purl], which strengthen the fabric of Space around them. The biggest advantage of a Sylph of Space to a session is that their passive motifs dispel Horrorterror contamination, and tend to dissuade the Noble Terrors from intervening too directly in the first place.  
Prince of Space: A Prince of Space can be seriously bad news. Well managed, they are one of the heaviest hitters in the game, as they can use the motif [Subtlest Knife] to tear a hole in reality, through which enemies can be punted. Upon godtiering, they can use the motif [Terminal (Frequently)] to break the molecular bonds of the target, turning it into a pile of atoms. Poorly managed, a Prince of Space might well tear your session apart and leave you to the none-too-tender mercies of the Horrorterrors. Worse, they might end up tearing your new universe apart with you in it. If your Prince of Space goes off the deep end, consider killing them. Particularly if they've already bred the Genesis Frog and lit the Forge.  
Bard of Space: A Bard of Space is an awful thing. From the moment they enter the session, they start playing the passive motif [Eraser], which breaks matter down at the subatomic level. If, by some ungodly chance they go godtier, they'll also start playing the motif [Crunch Time], which slowly increases the strength of gravity until either the session or universe collapses under its own weight. Get your Knight to help them breed the Frog and light the Forge as fast as possible (if ever there was a reason to cut corners with the frog breeding, this would be it), then kill them. Otherwise, they will kill you.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Right, so I've been sick, and starting uni, and then sick again, and the last chapter was the last one I had actually prewritten, but zai_make_it_awesome's comment niggled at me (in a good way), so here's a half done chapter with the promise that I will finish it soon. Suggestions regarding classpect powers are most welcome. I might even take some of them on board, but even if my reaction is 'nope', it would still help to define classpects by what they can't do.
> 
> Edit: Haha! finally pulled my finger out and finished this chapter! Next Up, Light.


	20. Chapter 19: Light

Light is the aspect of fortune, chance, probability and information. Light players tend to be verbose, and luckier than they realise, voracious readers and voluminous storytellers. All light players run the passive motifs [Bright, Sunny Day], which biases the weather towards just that, and [Skaia's Own], which grant's them a buff to their luck stat. Light players are almost always Prospit dreamers. The Denizen of Light is Cetus. By Johan's account, she's reasonable, if verbose, and usually insists that you gamble with her before she gives you the Choice.  
Maid of Light: Maids of Light are cheerful, helpful souls, always full of information and willing to correct any mistakes. Often in great detail, but in a gentle manner that doesn't feel as condescending as many Light players do. Near the top of their echeladder, Maids of Light gain the motifs [Warm Summer's Day], which creates a gentle, warm light, and [Blinded by the Light], which creates a blindingly bright light. As godtiers, they also get access to [Make My Own Luck], which gives a big boost to luck, and [Let There Be Light], which creates a ball of plasma, which they can scale from small enough to fit in their hand to an actual sun.  
Knight of Light: Knights of Light are verbose beyond all reason, and can waffle at great length and in great detail in order to avoid a subject. They are also excellent tactical users of information and are almost preternaturally good at eliminating variables. Knights of Light get the passive motif [I See You], which allows them to always spot an enemy, early on, and midway up their echeladder get [Insight], which lets them see stat bars and active buffs and debuffs. Upon godtiering, [Insight] starts running passively, and access is granted to the motif [Sunslammer], which massively boosts mèlee weapon damage and also causes a blindingly bright flash to be emitted every time they strike.  
Heir of Light: Heirs of Light always know exactly what they need to, when they need to. They are that one friend everyone has who breezed through school with top marks, whilst never once needing to study. They then probably had a lucky break like winning the lottery or meeting and charming the leader in whatever industry they wanted to go into. The also probably don't even realise how lucky they are. They're probably a very nice, engaging person. You still hate them a little, though, and feel awful about it. Heirs of Light have immediate access to the passive motif [My Lucky Day], which gives them a big boost to their luck stat. It also makes them glow slightly. Upon godtiering, they have access to the motif [Lit-erally] which allows them to turn into light, which also allows them to travel at the speed to light and also give their enemies sunburns.  
Page of Light: Pages of Light are losers. Their that one nerdy kid who is so painfully shy that they have no friends. They want friends, desperately, but they're too nervous to ever talk beyond a rushed imparting of information. Give them time to come to terms with themselves, though, and they are terrors. They are geniuses, all of them, and also they have access to seriously overpowered godtier motifs like [Burn 'Em Up] and [Sunstorm], which lets them fire jets of plasma from their eyes. If there is a Page of Light in your session, help them out of their shell, because they will be a force to be reckoned with once you do.  
Seer of Light: Seers of Light are know it alls. Literally. They can, in theory, see all information. Obviously, in practice they can't, because a human mind (or non-human one, I suppose), simply can't process and retain all that data. The speciality of Seers of Light is seeing the most beneficial future (for themselves and their party), and how to get there. They can do this using the motif [Crystal Ball], which is gained fairly early on and requires a focus item, like a ball or mirror, and later on it is replaced by the godtier motif [See The Light]. Godtier Seers of Light also run the passive motif [Eyellumination], which makes their eyes glow. Seers of Light often have maturity quests centred around accepting that they don't know everything and can't know everything.  
Mage of Light: Mages of Light have amazing intuition. They have hunches and intuitions that almost always turn out to be true. Post Godtier, this is reinforced by the passive motif [Look Here], which massively boosts their luck stat when they're looking for something. Mages of Light gain the passive motif [Diceweight] midway up their echeladder, which gives them instinctive knowledge of probabilities. If you ask them what the likelihood of x or y happening is, they'd know the answer without even thinking about it. Not that it'd do them any good, as they also run the shared mage passive motif [Cassandra] which biases other players against believing them. Post godtier, they have access to the offensive motif [Magefire], which lets them throw balls of flame like a fantasy wizard. I may be a little bit jealous. Mages of Light often have maturity quests based around accepting that other people will make stupid decisions, and all you can do is help them afterwards.  
Rogue of Light: A Rogue of Light is a bit like a spy in a film, only nicer. They have an uncanny knack for finding out their enemies plans, assisted by the passive motif [Fortune Favours The Bold], which ups their luck and stealth stats while sneaking. At the higher rungs of their echeladder, they also have access to the motif [Glare], which massively boosts stealth, and makes people conveniently suffer from bright lights shining in their eyes while the Rogue is in their field of view. Godtier Rogues of Light can steal and redistribute luck among party members using the motif [Prismatic Split]. Rogues of Light are also especially good at keeping everyone in the party informed about what's going on, though whether that is caused by a passive motif or simply due to their personality, I cannot say. Their maturity arcs generally centre on stepping back and letting others learn things on their own. Johan, our Rogue, is a cheery, affable sort. I met him through Mary, and together with Beatrice the three were thick as thieves. He did, however, have an awful habit of correcting their essays in school so thoroughly that he might as well have written them himself. Happily, he did complete his maturity quest, and after his meeting with Cetus seemed, not different so much as more confident, more solid. He then promptly got killed by an ogre and Jason and I had to ferry his corpse to his quest bed. He was a little annoyed that we hadn't just saved him, but it is to our great fortune that he remains the kind, forgiving soul he has ever been.  
Thief of Light: Thieves of Light are cheaters. There's no polite way of putting it. They will try to win using any and all dirty tricks they can, and they don't care who they hurt along the way. For obvious reasons, they don't tend to have friends so much as people willing to tolerate their presence. About halfway up their echeladder, Thieves of Light gain the motif [Get in, Loser], which allows them to steal the luck of the target. After godtiering, they also gain access to the motif [You'll Owe Me], which allows them to temporarily boost the target's luck stat, but then steadily drains it until there's nothing left.  
Witch of Light:  
Sylph of Light:  
Prince of Light:  
Bard of Light:


End file.
